Traveling Alone : Why Every Girl Should Try It

January 29, 2018

When I was 25 years old, I had a quarter life crisis. I know that sounds silly but it’s true! I no longer liked what I thought was my dream job, I was sick of the city I was living in, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I quit my job and left for Bali a week later… by myself. The next five weeks were exhilarating, scary, fun, exciting, and amazing. I traveled throughout Bali, Australia, Thailand, and Vietnam and learned a lot along the way. I ended up coming home after five weeks just to enjoy Christmas with my family and to sell everything I owned so that I could travel full time. I spent the next 9 months traveling alone through Europe, Australia (again), and Southeast Asia.

During this time, I made so many new friends, I learned some new languages, I was forced to be social despite my extreme shyness, I saw everything I wanted to see and ate what I wanted to eat, and most importantly I found my true passion in life that I’m currently in the process of turning into a career. I had the most incredible experience and I want that for you. I want that for all women which is why I have created my website to be a resource for women who are thinking of traveling alone but are just too nervous to pull trigger. Hopefully these 7 reasons will convince you to take the leap and give solo travel a try. I truly believe that every woman should try traveling alone at least once. You might hate it, and that’s ok! At least you got out of your comfort zone and tried something that took true courage and bravery.

Traveling Alone : Why Every Girl Should Try It

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You’ll Meet New People

One of the best reasons to travel alone is to meet new people. Having friends from all around the world is such an incredible feeling and it’s great to know that if you ever go back, you’ll have someone to catch up with! When you travel with friends, family, or a significant other, you rarely branch out and speak to other people unless they’re your waiter or tour guide. You don’t really have a reason to because you already have people to keep you company. But when you’re traveling alone, you need to find someone to talk to, otherwise you might get pretty lonely. Luckily, being alone makes you more approachable so it’s actually pretty easy to make friends.

Another benefit to meeting new people is that you get to learn about other cultures. From my new friends, I learned that student loans aren’t an issue in Norway, that Canada has gangs (surprising since we stereotype their people as being extremely nice), and that Australia has opposite seasons as us! Learning about other people and their cultures really helps you grow and become more open-minded.

Stonehenge, England

You’ll Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Having a routine and being comfortable is great. It feels good, you feel at home, no stress, no worries. But that doesn’t help you grow. Sometimes you need to push yourself to do something unexpected or new or scary so you can get out of your comfort zone. Traveling alone in a foreign country will definitely do this for you!

You’re forced to navigate foreign territory on your own, solve problems on your own, and do things that you wouldn’t normally do alone – like go out to dinner or take a tour. You’ll definitely feel uncomfortable at times – dining alone was the hardest for me – but once you’ve accomplished these things, you’re going to feel so good about yourself!

You’ll Be More Confident

I’ve always been a pretty shy person, but traveling alone made me more confident. If you’re shy or get nervous meeting new people, then traveling alone might really help! Your choices are to be lonely and not enjoy your trip or get over your shyness and make some friends. It’s great practice for being social and learning how to approach strangers so when you come back home you can use these new skills you learned.

Also, knowing that you accomplished something that most people are too afraid to do will give you nice a confidence boost as well! I hear all the time from friends, family, and strangers that they think I’m so brave and that they could never travel solo. It’s nice hearing from others that they think you’re a badass.

Giant’s Causeway, Ireland

You’ll Discover Your Passion

When I first started traveling alone, I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. As I moved from country to country, I realized that I really enjoyed learning the basic phrases in their native language! I played Duolingo in every country and asked the locals how to say certain things so that I could communicate even just a little with them. I ended up buying a French workbook and learned as much as I could to have a full conversation when I visited France. Now I’m learning Spanish and hope to use it on my trip to Spain this year! Learning new languages has become a new hobby of mine and if I ever get good enough maybe I can be an Interpreter or teach English as a second language?

I also discovered that I loved photography. Finding beautiful landscapes, buildings, and viewpoints to take pictures of really inspired me and I’ve now printed many of my photos and enlarged them to create a travel themed room in my home! *Read my post on how I did it. And of course, I realized that I am passionate about solo female travel which is why I’ve started my blog. I wanted to share my passion with the world and hopefully inspire more women to travel solo. I’ve now built a lovely community on Facebook, created anonline course, and started an online magazine so that you have all the resources you need to get inspired and plan your first solo trip.

You’ll Get to Travel on Your Terms

Have you ever traveled with someone who wanted to wake up at the crack of dawn to get started on the day or who wanted to visit a museum that sounded super boring to you? Well, the beauty of traveling alone is that you won’t EVER have this issue! You can wake up whenever you want, you can go to whatever sites you want, you can eat whatever you want without judgement, you can do nothing all day and not feel guilty…literally you have the freedom to make your trip the way you want it. Not having to compromise on anything will allow you to have your dream vacation and make sure you don’t miss out on anything.

Whitsunday Islands, Australia

You’ll Learn Something New About Yourself

Being on your own in foreign territory gives you the chance to really be an adult. You have to make your flight on time, research visas, lug your heavy suitcase around, take yourself to the doctor if you get sick, learn the public transportation system, and so much more. Through all of this, you’re bound to learn something new about yourself. Whether it’s that you’re smarter or braver than you think, that you’re more social than you thought, that you enjoy your own company and can confidently dine alone in a restaurant…or maybe you’ll learn a new skill or find a new hobby or passion. The beauty of traveling alone is that you’re met with so many new and unique experiences and you’re alone a good amount of time so you’re basically forced to learn about yourself.

You’ll Grow as a Person

Everything I’ve covered so far will help to grow you as a person. Meeting new people and learning new cultures, getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new, becoming more confident and improving your social skills, and learning new things about yourself. All of these will help to open your mind and broaden your horizons.

Glencoe, Scotland

If you’re still nervous about traveling alone for the first time, sign up for my free email coursebelow which will cover how to overcome the fears of traveling solo as well as help you prepare for your trip. You can also join the community in myfree Facebook group! It’s a female-only group where we all help each other on our solo journeys.

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About Me

Julia Thompson

Hi! I'm Julia Thompson, currently in the middle of the U.S. in Omaha, Nebraska. Two years ago I quit my sales job in San Francisco to travel solo around the world. Fast forward to now - I've been to 26 countries and I'm starting a blog to share what I've learned with you!